Paper Crane Keepsake

Paper Crane Keepsake

According to Japanese tradition, anyone who folds 1,000 origami cranes will be granted a wish. In Japanese popular culture, paper cranes have come to reference world peace through the poignant story of Sadako Sasaki, a child who was exposed to the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan during World War II. In 1958, The Children’s Peace Monument, featuring a statue of a girl holding a golden paper crane in outstretched hands, was erected in Hiroshima Peace Park with the inscription, “This is our cry. This is our prayer. For building peace in this world.”

Children around the world adopted the gesture after 9/11, and sent paper cranes to rescue and recovery workers and 9/11 families. The 9/11 Memorial Museum collection is home to 1,000 origami paper cranes that were hand-folded by Japanese school children.